


breaking the ice

by zimtlein



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: HeartGold & SoulSilver | Pokemon HeartGold & SoulSilver Versions
Genre: Awkwardness, M/M, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-11
Updated: 2020-02-11
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:27:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22668523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zimtlein/pseuds/zimtlein
Summary: On the Ice Path, Silver and Gold find themselves in a tricky situation.
Relationships: Hibiki | Ethan | Gold/Silver
Comments: 7
Kudos: 83





	breaking the ice

In the middle of the cave, he comes to a halt. A Meganium is watching him out of wary eyes. A boy with black hair right next to it. Silver takes a step back, another one, keeps watching the Pokémon. Hastily, he puts a finger on his lips.

The Meganium tilts its head. Maybe Silver is just imaging it, or there really is a mischievous shimmer in its eyes. A loud hum echoes in the cave. The Pokémon’s trainer snaps his head up, eventually spinning around. Their eyes meet. He freezes.

“Silver!” Gold calls, his eyes shining.

Awesome.

“Gold,” he responds, grinding his teeth. He directs a frown at the Meganium. The Pokémon seems unimpressed, blinking right back. Silver rolls his eyes. “Don’t have your fan club with you today?”

Looking towards the ceiling, Gold crosses his arms behind his head. “Kris is always one step ahead of me. And if you mean Lyra … Maybe she’ll show up. If you’re lucky enough.” At his teasing grin, Silver can’t help but roll his eyes again.

“If I’m lucky? The opposite, you mean.”

“Right. You totally don’t like her. I get it.” Gold’s grin is slowly but steadily grating on his nerves. “Are you going to stand there all day? Don’t worry, I don’t bite. We can get out of here together.”

“You need help? Who would have guessed.”

Gold snorts. “Nah. I just like the company.”

That happy-go-lucky attitude isn’t getting more bearable. Silver shivers in the Ice Path’s coldness. Next to Gold, Meganium is also trembling. The garland around its neck is rustling with its movements.

“And you want your Meganium to freeze to death here,” he responds, and takes the first step onto the ice. It’s already broken in some spots. Cracks run over the surface. His whole body tenses in an effort to not slide over the slippery surface. Spreading his arms dramatically like Lyra would have done is off the cards, though. Especially in front of Gold.

“She wanted to stay outside.” Sulking, Gold turns his head, and despite his words, he pulls a Poké ball from his pocket. His Meganium doesn’t seem too happy with the decision. “But well, if the expert tells me to do it …”

On instinct, Silver stops on the spot. Directly in front of him, a crack spreads, cutting so deep that a whole stretch of blackness is visible through the ice. With the tip of his shoe, he taps against the oddly colored place. His hands are trembling in the coldness.

“Are you scared?” Gold calls. He sounds genuinely surprised.

“Scared of breaking through ice and falling to my death? Geez, yes!”

Gold raises his eyebrows. “I fell through the ice three times in the front parts. Do I look dead to you?”

“Unlike you, it does matter to me whether or not I am getting impaled by a rock down there.” Silver wrinkles his nose.

“Wimp.” Snorting, Gold comes closer. Big steps, no trace of fear on his face. He simply ignores the creaking underneath his soles. Silver stares at him, unable to move.

“You idiot – stop, the ice is going to break.”

“Scaredy-pants. Don’t make such a fuss.”

“Gold, I’m warning you!”

And with that, the ice gives away underneath them.

At first, it doesn’t even seem like he is falling. A quick look confirms his fears, though. The snow-covered ground is coming closer faster than he anticipated. The collision is hard and quick, but the bigger evil is the fact that Gold lands on him with a quiet huff. For a moment, all air is knocked out of Silver’s lungs. He hardly feels the ice crystals raining down on his face. Glitter dances above him, and a person is still lying on him, apparently unwilling to make his life any easier.

“Gold,” pants Silver. “Move. Now.”

“That was unexpected,” is the only answer he gets.

It’s getting quiet again. Gold’s face is half-covered by snow, all his limbs stretched out.

“Move,” Silver repeats. “I can’t breathe.”

Silence.

“And don’t die on me now! This is all your fault, you idiot!” He tries pushing Gold off him. Heaves him up, tilts him from left to right. Gold stays where he is though, not moving an inch. “I swear to god, I’m going to kill you someday.”

“Death threats are bad manners, Silvs.” Gold’s voice sounds muffled and resigned. At first, Silver almost feels sorry for him. But then he remembers who got them into this situation in the first place.

That is the final straw.

Quickly, Silver jerks his legs upwards and bends them. He watches as Gold is shoved to the side due to their new positioning, and Gold lands face-first in the snow. No sound comes from him. Satisfied with his work, Silver sits up, trying to breathe properly.

“Call me ‘Silvs’ one more time, I dare you.” He huffs and glowers at Gold.

“Sorry.” Gold waves with his right hand. It takes him some time until he pushes himself up. There is a pout on his lips as he meets Silver’s eyes. “That was dumb. Sorry.”

“Yes, it was! Wouldn’t be the first time you –”

“I’m really sorry, Silvs.”

Silently, Silver stares at him. The corners of Gold’s mouth are twitching. After seconds of contemplating, Silver scoots closer, flicks his forehead, and stands up. Gold falls back into the snow with a quiet noise.

“Pull yourself together and help me,” mumbles Silver. He looks up to the ice above them. They won’t be able to reach the edges to pull themselves up – they aren’t tall enough. “How did you get up there before?”

“Stairs.”

“Stairs,” Silver repeats. “Where the hell would there be stairs?” Still he searches for them, looks at every crook of their prison. “There are none. Who would have thought of putting stairs here of all places?”

“No stairs? You sure?” Doubtingly, Gold twists his mouth. “I thought they are underneath every sheet of ice in here. Funny.”

“Yeah. Funny.”

While Silver is thinking about a possible solution, he hears Gold stand up. With quick movements, Gold taps over his clothes, checks his Poké balls. Then he stops next to Silver. “In moments like this, we’d really need Kris,” he sighs and crosses his arms.

“Or a little bit of common sense,” replies Silver. “Which Pokémon do you have with you? One that can fly?”

Gold gives him a thoughtful look. “My Pidgeot is way too big for that tiny crack.”

“And my Crobat won’t be able to get us up there. Especially not in its state.” Silver exhales loudly, stares towards the ceiling. “Now what?”

“My Meganium.” Without any hesitation, Gold pulls out a Poké ball and twirls it in his hand. “She can lift us up with her vines.” When he turns to Silver, he shows a wide grin. “Am I a genius or what?”

Silver resists the urge to smack his own forehead. That’s something he sure couldn’t have thought of himself. “Whatever,” he mumbles. Then he gestures at Gold to quickly get to work.

As soon as it is released, the Grass type begins to shiver. This prompts Silver’s body to be reminded of the low temperatures. While he watches Gold whisper instructions to his starter Pokémon, his jaw starts quivering.

Meganium’s eyes fix him after a while, watching him intensely. Silver quirks an eyebrow in response.

“Oh. Are you cold?” Gold chimes in, interrupting their silent dispute. “She seems to be worried about you. I think.”

“I wouldn’t call that –”

It happens so quickly that Silver can barely react. Vines wrap around his torso and lift him up. For a second, he thinks he is trapped by himself. It’s only then that he notices a warm body next to him.

“Hey, Meganium!” Gold calls out. His cheek is pressing against Silver’s. So close that the other’s heat is clearly perceptible on Silver’s own skin.

The Pokémon is cooing innocently.

Gold sighs. They are in the air now, only a few inches separating them from the floor made of ice. There is a shimmer of amusement in the Pokémon’s eyes, Silver begins to think. It kind of ticks him off.

“Sorry. She usually wouldn’t do something like that.” With those words, Gold turns towards him. The tips of their noses touch. Their eyes meet. A moment passes.

Too close.

Way too close.

“What a great trainer you are …” It doesn’t sound as provoking as it should, instead leaving Silver’s lips in a squeak-like sound. His cheeks turn hot. Very hot. Great. In front of no other than Gold. Just another milestone in his glorious life.

“Uh,” the other offers wittily. To Silver’s absolute horror, Gold doesn’t fare much better regarding his complexion, his cheeks hot pink. He feels every single one of Gold’s breaths on his skin. He sees every tiny bump on his face. A nose that is slimmer than Silver ever noticed. Lips, thin and a bit dry.

Quickly, he snaps his eyes up again. His own lips are quivering. Because of the coldness, and the closeness, and anyway, those reactions are normal. Perfectly normal.

Carefully, Meganium puts them down on the ice. It needs a few awkward moments until it pulls back its vines. As if having been burned, they scatter away from each other, putting as much distance between them as possible.

“So, uhm.” Gold laughs, and he sounds so nervous that Silver wants nothing more than to spontaneously disappear right here and now. “Again, sorry. But hey. She saved us, didn’t she?”

“Yeah, she did.”

“Yeah …”

“Yeah.”

With that, Gold calls his snickering Pokémon back.

Their journey to Blackthorn is a silent one. They maintain some distance to each other. Even as they are waiting for the nurse in the Pokémon Center. Even as they are saying their goodbyes. They are polite, wishing each other well, not properly looking each other in the eye. Which isn’t unusual, Silver tells himself. Anything but. Their teamwork just strengthened their bond. Or something. It doesn’t have to mean anything, he keeps thinking.

Too bad that both of them look over their shoulder as they are about to go their separate ways. Even worse that they do it at the same time, causing their eyes to meet for a few seconds. Especially embarrassing that Silver notices the shimmer of red on Gold’s cheeks, and the heat blooming on his own.

Silver quickly turns away and ignores his rapidly beating heart.


End file.
